Czech game developer Bohemia Interactive Studios' SpiritualSuccessor to their successful and legendary ''OperationFlashpoint'' series. Unlike the original, these installments take place in PresentDay and NextSundayAD time frames, not the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. The basic premise and game design philosophy of making a well-researched, true-to-life and unrelentingly realistic simulation of everyday military life is still there though. As is the practice of using various [[AffectionateParody fairly]] [[PlayedForLaughs funny]] (and ReferenceOverdosed) {{Ruritania}}s [[LawyerFriendlyCameo as the setting]] for the games' campaigns and missions.

The story behind the conception of ''ARMA'' was one of a painful birth: After finishing their work on ''OperationFlashpoint'', the developer Bohemia Interactive Studio and publisher Codemasters had a major falling out and split ways. BIS took the rights to the Real Virtuality engine, Codemasters got the rights to the name. BIS has since released three sequels based on this engine, ''ARMA: Armed Assault'' (''[[MarketBasedTitle Combined Operations]]'' in North America), ''ARMA II'', and ''ARMA III'', while Codemasters developed its own "official" sequel, ''[[OperationFlashpointCodemasters Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising]]''. Essentially, the BIS sequels closely resemble the original, except they have much better graphics and improved gameplay, while ''Dragon Rising'' [[GenreShift feels]], [[InternetBackdraft well]], [[GenreShift different from the original]] ''Flashpoint'', and a lot of old veterans seem to think that it suffers from NewAndImproved Syndrome.

The second game of the series and its expansion, ''Operation Arrowhead'', had a surge of popularity thanks to the VideoGame/{{DayZ}} mod, which requires both.

!!!Works within this series:* ''ARMA: Armed Assault / [[MarketBasedTitle Combat Operations]] (2007)'': SpiritualSuccessor and de-facto sequel to ''Operation Flashpoint'', developed by BIS (the original developers of Operation Flashpoint), using an updated engine called Real Virtuality 2 ([=RV2=]). ArmA: Cold War Assault takes place on the fictional island of Sahrani, divided between two nations: the [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Democratic Republic of Sahrani]] in the north, and an oil rich (and US backed) [[TheKingdom Kingdom of South Sahrani]]. The US forces have been training the South Sahrani military and are just starting to leave (in a trend of the series in which a predominantly US force prepares to leave a destabilized country only to get caught in the fighting; see [=ArmA III=]). You see where this is going. With most of the US military gone, the North invades the South and a few remaining US soldiers get caught in the middle of it, and they then aid the South in defeating the North.** ''Queen's Gambit'': A modest expansion pack, containing a small new island and a new campaign.* ''Virtual Battlespace 2 (2007):'' Bohemia Interactive Simulations' Real Virtuality engine, and the Armed Assault game based on it, were so successful and lauded as so realistic that this warranted an update to the game engine ([=VBS2=] used [=RV2=]), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VBS2#VBS2_customers also sold to the same real military organizations as VBS]]; in 2012 ''[=VBS2=] 2.0'' was released, based on the [=RV3=] engine used by ''ARMA 2''.* ''ARMA II (2009)'': The successor to ''Armed Assault'', based on the Real Virtuality 3 engine. It takes place in South Zagoria, a province of a destabilizing {{Ruritania}} called Chernarus. The current, US-aligned government is desperately fighting a war against communist rebels called the [=ChDKZ=]. Of course, the USA intervenes to save the failing government forces and launches attacks on the [=ChDKZ=]. After a bombing in Moscow -which the rebels blame on a group of anti-[=ChDKZ=] guerrillas called the National Party- the Kremlin steps up and tells the US to leave. Not wanting to risk all out war, they do so, and the Russians, under the flag of the UN, deploy into the region, but in a reoccurring trope, the player's squad Razor Team is left behind in the confusion, and is now stuck trying to prove the Red Square bombing was actually a false flag op. by the rebels.** ''Operation Arrowhead (release date June 29, 2010):'' A standalone expansion pack set in a new country, with new locations and a new campaign; it can be installed into the ''ARMA 2'' directory (or run with ''ARMA 2'' through Steam) to allow for a "Combined Operations" install where both games' content are accessible through the OA client. It is set in Takistan, and the plot is a blatant expy of the Main/TheWarOnTerror. Basically, the dictator of Takistan is said to have nuclear weapons, so the US invades and occupies it.** ''British Armed Forces (release date August 29, 2010):'' DLC expansion pack and sequel to ''Operation Arrowhead'', with British Armed Forces playable.** ''Private Military Company (release date November 30, 2010):'' DLC expansion pack and sequel to ''British Armed Forces'', with a deeper storyline and a moral choice.** ''Army of the Czech Republic (release date August 1, 2012)'': A DLC expansion pack for a ''Combined Operations'' install (that is, both ''ARMA 2'' and ''Operation Arrowhead'' must be installed) that adds Czech military small arms and vehicles, two new 'maps' ("terrains"), a new fifteen-mission single-player campaign, new premade scenarios and more Editor scenario templates.* ''VBS Worlds (2011):'' This iteration of the VBS engine was developed by BIS in partnership with Caspian Learning and is oriented towards civilian education: water purification unit maintenance, cultural sensitivity training, etc.* ''ARMA: Cold War Assault (2011)'': A free {{Remake}} (or refurbishing if you will) mega patch for the original ''Operation Flashpoint'', released in celebration of the game's 10th anniversary by the developers. Because of the whole legal debacle with Codemasters, applying this patch to an installed copy of ''OFP'' will rename the game to ''ARMA : Cold War Assault''. '''NOTE :''' Please '''[[IAmNotShazam don't confuse]]''' the original ''Operation Flashpoint'' with the ARMA series proper - it's only a predecessor and set in the same universe, but otherwise completely separate. The [[InsistentTerminology new title]] [[ScrewedByTheLawyers is there only because BIS can't release the patch under the original name of the game, since it's now owned by Codemasters]]. The synopsis is that there are some islands, one of which is run by the Soviets, one by the US, and the last is independent. Guba, the commander of the Russian forces, wants to remove Gorbachev from power, so he schemes to get the US and the USSR in a [[WorldWarIII war]]. He uses his forces to invade the independent island, and defeat counterattacking US forces. You have to prevent a World War.* ''VideoGame/{{Take On Helicopters}} (2011)'': This [=RV3=]-powered game [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is about piloting helicopters]], and takes place within the ARMA-verse ("Armaversum").* ''Take On Mars (2013)'': This game is about customizing and controlling a drone on Mars to do scientific missions and make a profit. Unlike all other publicly-released VBS & RV-engine games so far, ''Take On Mars'' is nonviolent and has no physical conflict against other living things.* ''ARMA III'' (2013): Announced for a summer 2012 release (subsequently pushed back to winter 2012 then to 2013, where it was finally released after a long Alpha and Beta) and using the Real Virtuality 4 ([=RV4=]) engine, this game extends the ARMA gameplay with underwater operations (scuba diving, etc.), and other features. It features Israeli military equipment (such as the Merkava tank), US Future Warrior equipment, and the military of a resurgent Iran. It takes place on the two Mediterranean islands of Altis and Stratis (based of real life Lemnos). There has just been a bloody civil war followed by, of course, NATO intervention. NATO trains and equips the Altis Armed Forces (AAF) but prepares to leave after the Altisian government starts getting backing by CSAT (a coalition of Eastern countries led by a resurgent Iran) and their mandate comes to an end. But as NATO starts leaving their bases on the island of Stratis, things go awry as the AAF suddenly attacks the NATO forces. It is then a desperate struggle to hold back the AAF and get in contact with the rest of NATO with only a small, battered force. It is later revealed that CSAT is helping to provoke the attacks.* ''VideoGame/ArmaTactics (2013)'': A spinoff developed in the Unity 3D engine. It has nothing in common with the main ARMA series except for visuals and voice acting.

For the Codemasters created follow-up and [[DuelingGames competitor]], see ''[[OperationFlashpointCodemasters Operation Flashpoint - Codemasters]]''.

'''NOTE:''' Many of the tropes listed on the page of its direct predecessor also apply to this series.

----!!The ''ARMA'' series features the following tropes:

* AKA47: In a rather hilarious example, the British Armed Forces in ''Operation Arrowhead'' get the ''Offroad'' vehicle, a ''Hand Over Offender''. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Totally not]] a ''Land Rover Defender''. ''ARMA 3'' takes this further by having as few proper names of anything as possible, although interestingly enough quite a few of those are officially described as being descendants or successors -- or even a ripoff, in the case of the Zafir[[note]]specifically, accused of being a Chinese copy of the Negev[[/note]] -- of the originals.* ArtificialStupidity: Practically a staple of the series. The AI is pretty abysmal. Pathfinding is always an issue, and the AI often takes very... ''odd'' routes to waypoints. AI squadmates under your control rarely follow orders, stopping every 5 feet to pick their nose (or whatever they are doing). AT soldiers don't seem to have much awareness as to where you are, and will usually blow up a vehicle ''you are standing right next to and are trying to blow up with explosives''. They also get immensely confused in tight spaces, which is something of a leftover from Operation Flashpoint. In truth, the AI has evolved little with each engine change.** ''ARMA II'' has problems with waypoint finding, and requires some tweaking for patrolling soldiers to acknowledge that their comrades are suddenly dying from ''your own sniper shots''.** ''[=ArmA III=]'' is host to many of these issues, but it is far more noticeable in the ''Zeus'' game mode. What may have seemed like artificial brilliance as a soldier on the ground is now shattered and shown as the AI bugging out tremendously as you can now see them from overhead. Soldiers ''never'' follow Zeus' orders once they get locked into combat, and once they are locked in the only way to get them out is by having every enemy soldier die and having them sound the "all clear".* AttackDrone: ''Arma 3'' offers many opportunities for violent robotic mayhem in fixed-wing, rotorcraft and landborne flavours.* UsefulNotes/AustralianSlang: Dixon from ''ARMA II: Private Military Company'' is an Aussie [[CargoShip who names his gun]] [[ICallItVera "Matilda"]].* BilingualBonus: Where to begin, where to begin...** In ''ARMA II'', the occupying Chedaki force speaks [[FakeRussian faux Russian]], while the native Chernarussian inhabitants speak [[GratuitousForeignLanguage faux Czech]], including [[PunnyName names]] and [[FunnyBackgroundEvent voiceovers]]: A Chernarussian officer named Lt. Tomáš Marný ("Thomas Hopeless", or even more literally "that's hopeless" in Czech), a civilian named Pepa Zdepa ("Joe from-the-Depot"), etc. You may occasionally hear Chernarussian civilians say things like "''Potím se jak vrata vod chlíva...''" ("I'm sweating like a cowshed gate...").** Apart from that, most if not all of the names of Chernarussian towns and landmarks are of Russian origin. The castle hill "Zub" means literally "Tooth", the peninsula "Golova" is translated as "Head" (and both are just two of many anatomic names in Chernarus). Other names are the "Pobeda" Dam (the "Victory" Dam), and "Stary Sobor" and "Novy Sobor" ("Old Church" and "New Church"). The two major cities of Zagoria (which itself loosely translated means "Behind-The-Mountain(s)-ia"), Chernogorsk and Elektrozavodsk, can be loosely translated as "Black-Mountain-sk" and "Electric-Power-Plant-sk". Former of whom is a tribute to the country's name of Chernarus (lit. "Black Rus", which itself is a parody of the name of Belarus, aka "White Rus").** In ''ARMA 3'', there is a tactical vest that reads "Greek police", while the OPFOR faction officer's revolver is [[AKA47 a Chiappa Rhino under the name Zubr]]... ''which is Czech for bison''... although also Arabic slang for a phallus.** Also, "arma" is both the Latin term for "weapon" and the in-universe codename for "armed assault".* BohemiansWithBombers: The series is made by a Czech studio. See below for details.* BritsWithBattleships: The ''BAF'' expansion pack adds them to ''[=ArmA=] II'' as a BLUFOR besides the Americans, as well as a separate campaign for some Royal Lancers. Its protagonist, Frost, continues his career in ''Private Military Company''.** In ''3'', there are British NATO peacekeepers stationed on Altis and Stratis alongside the Americans, as the islands [[AllThereInTheManual are former British colonies]]. When [[spoiler:the AAF [[{{Backstab}} turn against]] NATO in the campaign]], it is Royal Navy special forces operatives[[note]]who seem to have been tipped off about the looming betrayal in advance[[/note]] that try to rally the scattered US peacekeepers on Stratis, functioning as the protagonist's MissionControl.* CanonWelding: Shares the same LikeRealityUnlessNoted fictional universe with the original ''VideoGame/OperationFlashpoint'' series.* CivilWar: The basic {{backstory}} behind most installments is that you're a foreign soldier helping restore peace and some semblance of order in war-torn countries. This is different from ''OperationFlashpoint'', where most plots involved Cold War espionage and FalseFlagOperation invasions of defenceless countries... and given another twist in ''3'' when [[spoiler:the government faction turns on the protagonist's faction]].* ClusterFBomb: Pretty much [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70tuAXKmuoU&t=45s this]] from Tanny.* ContinuityNod: A lot towards ''OperationFlashpoint'', its various characters, events and locales - courtesy of both series taking place in [[CanonWelding the same]] [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted mildly fictional]] AlternateUniverse, complete with the ''Arma 3'' main menu theme music being a remake of ''Operation Flashpoint''[='=]s theme music.* CrewOfOne: Averted, like in the original ''OFP''; you need both a driver and a gunner at the very least to properly operate armoured fighting vehicles of any kind, while the commander's movement controls are the same as the driver's, albeit corresponding to said verbal orders. Unfortunately they can become even more repetitive than the infamous MadLibsDialogue, so in missions with waypoints the unit orders menu does include "Next waypoint" in its movement submenu.* CripplingOverspecialization: An odd one, but the SDAR is an underwater assault rifle in 5.56 x 45 mm that can accept both regular and special underwater ammo, making it the only firearm in the game that can fire underwater, which ''could'' have made it the most versatile... were said underwater ammo not next-to-useless ''above water''[[note]]This is truth in television, underwater weapons such as the Russian ASM-DT and ADM use long dart-like projectiles which are stabilized by drag while in water. If fired above water, the projectiles are too long to be stabilized by rifling and will tumble, leading to exceedingly poor range and accuracy. Normal ammunition is used by these weapons above water.[[/note]]. It doesn't help that it took until a later update for the weapon to have ranges ''beyond'' a fixed 30 meter zero[[note]]30, 100, 200, 300 and 400 meters[[/note]], and even then it's unable to accept ''any'' attachments... discounting the TRG series' fixed sights being zeroed at only 100 meters, the SDAR is essentially the ''worst'' of the assault rifles at almost ''anything'' except shooting divers while both of you are underwater.* [[AuthorAppeal Developer Appeal]]: One of the factions included in ''Operation Arrowhead'' is the Czech [=601st=] Special Forces Group, and the third/final of the ''ARMA II'' [=DLCs=] is named "Army of the Czech Republic". Ironically though, it's noticeably ''the'' [[ObviousBeta least polished and low-effort]] of the three.** The developer behind the ''Zeus'' DLC also is known to be a fanboy of the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter -- which made it into ''Arma 3'' despite its real-world cancellation, renamed the AH-99 Blackfoot.* DoNotRunWithAGun: Perfected even more since the time of ''OFP''. ''ARMA II'' makes it ''impossible'' to shoot while running, as your character will start a jogging animation after moving for a second with their arms being occupied - to shoot while moving, you must either aim down your weapon sights (limiting your character to walking speed like many shooter games) or hold the walk button so that your character can "hipfire"; even then, there's considerable weapon/crosshair bobbing, so you don't get a stable point of aim unless the character is stationary.** Tweaked in ''ARMA 3'', where you can't sprint/run with a raised gun but you can do a "combat pace" jog with your weapon raised... not much faster than the walk and the most fatigue-building short of sprint, but the closest ever in the series to other shooters' "hipfire" movement speed.* DownloadableContent: An odd example would be ''ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead'' (itself a standalone expansion) having ''British Armed Forces'' and ''Private Military Company''; ''OA'' already has the character types and weapons used in the DLC, but they have low-quality textures and sound quality, so ''BAF'' and ''PMC'' are not just additional campaigns (one each) but also higher-quality textures and sounds for their characters/weapons that' are already in ''OA'' (the exception is the [=XM8=], which seems to be the standard weapon system of the PMC faction, but was already in the game as far back as ''ARMA II'').** In a rather {{Base Break|er}}ing moment, when it was revealed that the official SP campaign for ''ARMA 3'' would not be finished in time for the scheduled September 12th release and that said release date was immutable, meaning that the game would ship/launch without an official campaign... the announcement that the campaign (or rather, three mini-campaigns) would be delivered as free DLC didn't help ''at all''.* EarthquakeMachine: In Arma 3's [[spoiler:Win campaign episode, the Device]] is heavily implied to be this.* FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism: In some cases, even higher than in ''Operation Flashpoint'' (which is [[UpToEleven saying something]]). Of course, several mods exist to tweak these values, and BIS has promoted the ability to "zero" scopes in ''Operation Arrowhead'' so that they will account for bullet drop - that is, adjust the scope so that point of aim will equal point of impact - at the specified distance.** Zeroing is included in ''Arma 3'' by default, albeit only iron sights, certain 'sniping' scopes and the red dot sight on the underbarrel grenade launchers are adjustable -- other collimators/reflex sights and 'rifleman' scopes have a fixed zero, albeit unlike Arma 2 that distance is now displayed in the weapon HUD.* FactionCalculus: Similar to its predecessor, the games typically feature 3 factions in the gameplay, usually with different gear at their disposal. Although it is somewhat lessened due to the fact that the games use real factions and vehicles (even ''[=ArmA III=]'' despite its futuristic setting, as most of the vehicles and weapons are just rebrandings or updates of existing ones)** In ''[=ArmA II=]'' it went like this:*** The US forces are Powerhouse, Russia and the CDF qualify as Balanced, and the [=ChDKZ=] are subversive. For Operation Arrowhead, US is again powerhouse, the Takistani military is Balanced, and the Insurgents are subversive.** In ''[=ArmA III=]'' it is a bit muddier, as the three main factions (NATO, AAF, and CSAT) all have equal vehicle equivalents, but roughly speaking NATO is more of a Balanced Cannons (because of their better artillery), CSAT is Balanced Powerhouse (Arguably better helicopter gunships and [=AFVs=]), AAF is Balanced, and FIA is Subversive, although as stated this is a very loose interpretation and for the most part the factions are on equal footing compared to [=ArmA II=].* AFatherToHisMen: Brian Frost from the ''British Armed Forces'' and ''Private Military Company'' [=DLC=] expansions says that the troops he was commanding were like sons to him.* FirstPersonGhost: Following in the footsteps of ''Operation Flashpoint'', this is averted. In ''ARMA II'' and its expansion, the [=TrackIR=] device essentially adds a motion-based control option for free look.* ForMassiveDamage: It's more than possible to defeat some vehicles using just small arms; for example, a helicopter can be forced into a crash landing by shooting out either of its rotors.* GameMaster: Introduced with the ''Zeus'' free DLC for ''Arma 3'', multiplayer missions created with Zeus support (by placing a module in the Editor) can have a player in the role of "''Zeus''", either alongside or separately from other players; in the latter mode s/he can't exit the interface but isn't represented in the game world[[note]]although an eagle tends to soar overhead of where s/he's looking[[/note]] and is therefore invulnerable.* GameMod: Has a very dedicated worldwide modding community that can already rival that of the original ''Operation Flashpoint'', and some mods are even direct descendants of ''Operation Flashpoint'' versions!** The by-far most famous and possibly most influential of all though is the ZombieApocalypse mod called ''DayZ''... it's about as realistic as a zombie-infested, fictional Eastern European country can get, single-handedly caused a spike in ''[=ArmA=] II'' sales, and its modder (a contractor who did mo-cap/MP mission design for Arma 3) was hired and made project lead of a standalone game version of the mod. Ironically, he initially kept his involvement in the project under wraps from his Bohemia Interactive co-workers, feeling that the subject matter was embarrassingly unlike what the company was known for.* GunPorn: Thanks to various [[GameMod addons]], the games can include everything from [[VideoGame/{{STALKER}} Gauss Rifles]], [[RareGuns G11s]], and [[Film/{{Aliens}} Pulse Rifles]]. The basic list of the firearms already present in the vanilla version of the game [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/ArmA_II is also pretty extensive]]; a lot of the ''Arma 2'' list consisted of variants with attachments though (i.e. [=M16A4=], [=M16A4=] ACOG, [=M16A4=] [=M203=]), while the weapons list in ''Arma 3'' is smaller due to its mostly modular attachment system[[note]]with the notable exception of underbarrel grenade launcher variants[[/note]].* HighTechHexagons: The CSAT faction in ''Arma 3'' is seriously obsessed with hexagons: its logo is [[http://arma3.com/assets/img/features/factions/csat_flag.jpg a hexagon made of smaller hexagons,]] and its vehicles even adopt [[UpToEleven a hexagonal camo pattern]], which [[EvilIsCool overall contrasts]] the [[GoodIsBoring plainer colour schemes of NATO gear.]]* HollywoodSilencer: Averted. And played straight in ''ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead''. [[ZigZaggingTrope Kinda sorta]]...* HyperspaceArsenal: Averted. As in ''[[OperationFlashpoint OFP]]'', you can only carry as much equipment, weaponry and ammo as your webbing or backpack allows[[note]]and in ''Arma 3'' your uniform as well[[/note]]. Too big or heavy weapons take up a far bigger slot[[note]]or in ''Arma 3'', more weight[[/note]] than a combination of several smaller ones and they also slow you down a little if you're running.* ICallItVera: Dixon's aforementioned "Matilda".* InstantDeathBullet: Averted - unless you get shot point-blank in the head. You can die very easily, in just a few shots, but you usually only get injured in certain parts of your body, which affects your overall combat abilities. Getting shot in the legs makes you unable to walk.* InUniverseMarketing: Several good examples (i. e. [[http://www.aan-online.com/ AAN News Online]]), but the viral marketing of the first ''ARMA'' game [[CharacterBlog via a fictional blog of an in-game character]] [[http://www.armedassault.com/william/index.php?paged=6 takes the cake]]... There's also a hefty dose of ContinuityNod towards ''Operation Flashpoint'' in all these ViralMarketing materials (to nearly ContinuityPorn levels).* JokeCharacter: There is a [[UsefulNotes/{{WorldWarII}} T-34 tank]] available in ''ARMA II''s Armory and Editor (in the case of the Editor, as it's an armored vehicle of the NAPA faction).** This accounts also for the WWI era [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz0TZXbC6HE Sopwith Camel]] biplane included in ''[=ArmA=]''[[note]]''Armed Assault''[[/note]], which is quickly gunned down even by ''handguns'' and mainly serves for fun dogfights in multiplayer; ditto for the [=DC-3=], a classic airliner.** With plenty of mods installed, you can quickly turn various WWII and Vietnam-era factions into this. Have fun pitting Nazis with KAR-98s and nothing more than the uniforms on their backs against US Special Forces with SCAR-Hs, [=XM8=]s and body armor.* KnightInSourArmor: Brian Frost (protagonist of ''ARMA II: British Armed Forces'' and ''Private Military Company'') becomes this, fully succumbing to cynicism by the time of ''PMC'', and [[spoiler:in ''Take On Helicopters'' he's implied to have participated in the cover-up with Mark Reynolds by assassinating UN inspectors, and moved on to become a head of operations for the ION PMC]].* LaResistance: ''ARMA II'' uses guerrillas as both enemies (the "Chedaks" faction of Chernarus) and potential allies (the troops of the "National Party", aka NAPA). You spend most of the campaign fighting irregular troops, unlike previous installments, where you mostly fought organized soldiers.** In ''ARMA 3'', there's the FIA, a CIA/SIS-backed resistance group on Altis fighting the Iranian presence.* MadLibsDialogue: ''Armed Assault''[='s=] and ''ARMA II''[='s=] radio voiceovers of the individual soldiers kind of inherited this quality from ''{{Operation Flashpoint}}''. Naturally, the somewhat unnatural sounding style of the voiceovers is caused by the daunting task of having to record each possible combination of a voiceover line separately (it would take ages and require thousands of voice files). There are some community-made [[GameMod mods]] in the works for replacing the original voice files with better dubbed ones, and ''ARMA 3'' has done a little to smooth it out, though it's still there to a point.* MeaningfulName: In the first campaign mission of ''[=ArmA=] II'', you and your squad are ordered to mark an enemy communication centre in the remote coastal town of Pusta for aerial bombardment. In the process, you will find that the rebels who occupied the town, [[spoiler:massacred most of the townsfolk, and ditched them in mass graves on the outskirts]]. Now, for everyone who speaks [[BilingualBonus Russian]], the town's name foreshadows this unfortunate turn of events - as ''Pusta'' means "[[spoiler:[[GhostTown Empty]]]]" in Russian.* MacGuffin: The third ''Arma 3'' campaign episode ''WIN'' has [[spoiler:"''the Device''"]].* MeleeATrois: The scenario editor in both games (including ''Videogame/OperationFlashpoint'') makes it possible to deliberately invoke this - the Independents can be allied with either the BLUFOR, OPFOR, neither, or neutral.* NextSundayAD: Although the series takes place in a somewhat AlternateUniverse version of our own, so ongoing events like the WarOnTerror are quite different there even at the same time.* NintendoHard: You'll have to do your best imitating RealLife military tactics to win the game, and no one ever says their jobs are easy. ''ARMA 3'' takes it up a notch with its '''tutorials'''[[note]]officially "Showcases"[[/note]] oftentimes being insane one-man commando missions, such as the Night showcase... where you're tasked with single-handedly causing as much havoc (specifically "going loud") and building destruction as possible all by your lonesome self ''without nightvision goggles''.* NoArcInArchery: All the rocket/recoilless weapons for some reason (they were realistic in OperationFlashpoint).** Averted with vengeance for unguided rockets in ''Arma 3''.* NoCampaignForTheWicked: Averted somewhat in ''Arma 3'', where you get to play [[DeathFromAbove a CSAT gunship pilot]] in a couple of Showcases.* OneBulletClips: Averted, as in ''OperationFlashpoint''. After reloading, magazines with bullets left are put back in the player's inventory and can be reloaded again later, at any time.** The realism-enhancing ''[=ACE II=]'' [[GameMod mod]] makes this ''[[HarderThanHard worse]]'', in a way - besides the fire mode selection, it removes the ammo counter from the GUI. The Reload action will inform you how heavy the magazine "feels" and that's all the info you get about the amount of ammo left... Unfortunately, the default ''ARMA II'' action for sitting down had to be removed from the ''ACE II'' mod's gameplay due to this.* OrphanedSeries: The first ''{{ARMA}}'' game (a.k.a. ''Armed Assault'') eventually became this when BIS decided not to create any more official content for it and moved on [[AuthorsSavingThrow to produce a more polished and improved sequel]]. Many fans and reviewers felt that this was fairly justified, since the game was still [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks too much like]] the original ''OFP'', despite implementing several new features and technical improvements[[note]]the CEO later admitted that ''Armed Assault'' was essentially itself an attempt to put out ''something'' within budget and ''on time'', and ''not'' a labor of love[[/note]]. The fact that some of the new stuff was often pretty buggy to begin with and not always well thought out (particularly the implementation of actual tall grass for stealth and the oft overcompetent enemy AI) all added to the game prematurely fading in popularity and not gaining as big a modder base as ''OFP'' or ''ARMA II''. The sequel was also launched less than two years after ''AA'', so most of the fanbase made the hop to ''ARMA II'' fairly quickly. On the other hand, given how buggy ''ARMA II'' was on release (and still is to some extent), the problems are [[MisBlamed not completely endemic]] to ''Armed Assault''.* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The Democratic Republic of Sahrani (DRS) in ''ARMA: Armed Assault''. The DRS also has elements of a stereotypical BananaRepublic. In ''ARMA II'', Chernarus used to be this, and some of the in-game factions would like if it stayed that way.* PersiansWithPistols: One of the five factions in ''ARMA III''[[note]]though in a strange twist they at one point showed up with some [[IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles Israeli kit]][[/note]] wielding both indigenous[[note]]most noticeably the Katiba, a "futurized" and up-calibered descendant of the KH-2002[[/note]] and [[RussiansWithRustingRockets Russian]] gear, generally named for Islamic figures[[note]]such as the Ifrit, in real life called the ZIL Punisher[[/note]], with the exception of the officers' toting [[CoolGuns/{{Handguns}} the Chiappa Rhino]], renamed the Zubr... which is both [[BilingualBonus Czech for "bison"]] and [[DoubleEntendre Arabic slang for phallus]].* PrivateMilitaryContractors: The subject of the ''Private Military Company'' DLC.* PsychoForHire: Dixon in ''ARMA II: Private Military Company''. He even suggests shooting at US Army soldiers to expedite some processes.* {{Qurac}}: Takistan in ''ARMA II : Operation Arrowhead''.* RedScare: ''ARMA: Armed Assault'' has you fighting the Commie-ish Democratic Republic of Sahrani, which is invading its southern neighbor, the Kingdom of Sahrani. ''ARMA II'' pits you against Commie rebels in Chernarus [[spoiler:and even brought back the Russians, though of the modern day non-Communist flavour]].* RealTimeStrategy: Not only is there at least one ''Arma 2'' mod that allows this, but the ''[[GameMaster Zeus]]'' DLC for ''Arma 3'' was confirmed to support "''Zeus vs. Zeus''", and the basic Zeus system already involves a Resources bar that can regenerate at different rates if at all, and objects (characters, vehicles, modules, etc.) costing a certain amount of Resources to place.* RougeAnglesOfSatin: The description for any [=M16A4=] with an attached M203 in ''Arma 2'' reads "Assault rifle with grenade ''luncher''".** There's also multiple typos in some of the scripting commands and config parameters under the hood, such as ''Arma 2'' having at one point "''[[=IncomingMisslieDetectionSystem=]]''".* {{Ruritania}}: TheKingdom of Sahrani Island from the first ''ARMA'' game played this trope fairly straight, being a stereotypical [[OliveGarden Mediterranean]]-[[TorosYFlamenco esque]] monarchy. It's adversary is the aforementioned PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny in the northern half of the island, which broke away from the kingdom a few years ago. [[spoiler:If you succeed in beating the main campaign, you can defeat the Democratic Republic of Sahrani and help restore the original united kingdom.]]** [[MeaningfulName Chernarus]] from ''ARMA II'' [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial is ''totally'' not Georgia or Chechnya with a dash of Kosovo, we swear!]]** It's also [[SarcasmMode ''purely'' a coincidence]] that the conflict in [[{{Qurac}} Takistan]] seen in ''ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead'' has any resemblance to the First Gulf War for how it started, the Second Gulf War for what happened to the country, or to Afghanistan for how the local people behave. [[CaptainErsatz The dictator of Takistan is also totally not Saddam Hussein]], [[SarcasmMode really.]]** And of course, Altis and Stratis from ''Arma 3'' are - despite being former British Greek colonies that just had a bloody civil strive and have to be supervised by British and American peacekeepers and are invaded by a nearby middle-eastern power - [[SarcasmMode are in no way related to]] UsefulNotes/{{Cyprus}} or UsefulNotes/NorthCyprus.** Geographically they're actually modeled on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemnos Lemnos]] -- which was outright called Limnos -- and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agios_Efstratios Agios Efstratios]], but the former underwent a name change to Altis -- and the CEO made sure to emphasize that the islands were ''not'' to scale -- after two of the game's devs were jailed for four months on espionage charges while vacationing on Limnos.* RussiansWithRustingRockets: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZX1T7qIug Actually subverted pretty well.]] Garrisons of the Russian Federation spread across the Chernarussian border do use equipment and vehicles ''descended'' from Soviet-era ones, but all of these are more modern versions of older kit. All in all, the Russian soldiers have pretty decent gear, even carrying around exclusively newer assault rifles (like the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN-94 AN-94 Abakan]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-107 AK-107]]), while in RealLife, these are still not as widespread in the Russian army as the gradually phased-out AK-74.* SemperFi: The default ''ARMA II'' campaign stars a Force Reconnaissance team, and therefore the USMC are the default "BLUFOR" for the game - hence Marine Corps weapons, Marine Corps vehicles and so on.* ShoutOut: [[Film/{{Aliens}} Private Hudson asks how can he get out of this chickenshit outfit.]]** In the ''ARMA II Private Military Company'' DLC, Reynolds pulls out a grenade launcher and says, [[{{Inception}} "You mustn't be afraid to think a little bigger, boys."]]** The ''Arma 3'' main menu theme music is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9FIl924vO4 a remix/remake of the original Operation Flashpoint theme music]].* SightedGunsAreLowTech: Back in the day, ''OperationFlashpoint'' was one of the first games to thoroughly avert this. ''ARMA'' does the same : Your sights are better for aiming than your small on-screen crosshair, and if you ramp up the realism by turning off said crosshair, you can only aim with your sights (or scopes). Some weapons even come with ''dual'' sights (backup iron sights or small collimators atop the scope tube for use at close-range or with night vision) although by ''Arma 3'' this is actually more common than not, and the October [=31st=] 2013 "Survive" update actually added two pistols with collimators of their own!* SimulationGame: And a very WideOpenSandbox one at that. You can do anything from fighting on foot, to driving cars and tanks or flying helicopters and other aircraft... or just walk around the country and the settlements, talk to civilians, etc. Oh, and in ''Arma 2'', there's also a free-roaming mode that allows you to play as any of the local animals. So the game is also ''[[RuleOfFunny the first rabbit simulator for the PC!]]''* SchizoTech[=/=]AnachronismStew: The scenario editor in ''Arma 2'' makes it possible to deliberately invoke this - a scenario can be set to take place anywhere between 1990 and 2015 (ramped up to 1980-2020 with ''Operation Arrowhead''), but setting it as early as possible doesn't make it any less possible to fly an F-[=35B=] or MV-22, or shoot a [=G36C=] or [=XM8=]. [=ArmA=] III pushes it to an extreme, where not only can the editor be set anywhere from 2000 to 2050, but mods can allow you to pit World War II T-34's against modern (and future!) military equipment, like the T-100 Varsuk (based off of T-95s and the "Black Eagle" concept tank)* TheStoic: In ''Arma 2'', all characters in-game show no emotions (no eyebrow movement) at all, entering deep into the UncannyValley when they are supposed to be smiling, laughing, crying, etc.* SurveillanceDrone: In ''Arma 2: Combined Operations'' there are three drones available, four with the addition of ''Private Military Company''. This is extended in ''Arma 3'' with [[{{TheTurretmaster}} automated turrets]], the unarmed quadrotor UAV, a UGV called the Stomper and the fixed-wing Greyhawk UAV, both of which have both armed and unarmed versions.* SuperNotDrowningSkills: You can swim pretty well, in contrast to the original series, where getting completely submerged for more than 10-15 seconds meant insta-death. Even this is handled realistically - swimming for too long will cause any weapons carried on your back [[BagOfSpilling to slip off and disappear]].** Averted in ''ARMA III'', for soldiers diving without a rebreather.* TakeThat: At Codemasters for ''[[OperationFlashpointCodemasters Dragon Rising]]''. From an in-universe [[http://www.aan-online.com/en/europe/22-interview-un-chief-weapons-inspector.html interview]] at "[[InUniverseMarketing AA News Online]]" (for ''ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead''):-->'''Ivan Ruce:''' It seems pretty obvious to me that no one wants to see a ''[[StealthPun Flashpoint Rising]]'' in the Green Sea Region.** The mission editing reference wiki uses the killing of SpongeBobSquarePants [[http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/setTaskState for examples]].** A funny '[[SarcasmMode coincidence]]', the seemingly Greek-modeled AAF [[spoiler:turning on the supposed-to-be-departing NATO peacekeepers]] in a game made by a dev team whose creative director and environmental lead spent four months in Greek jail on account of alleged espionage...* TankGoodness: Received a slight nerf in ''Operation Arrowhead'', where vehicles' "health" is by component instead of as a whole - so it'll be possible to "mobility kill" or "mission kill," i.e. by damaging the treads on either side or the turret, respectively.* TemptingFate: The first Arma 3 campaign mission "''Drawdown''" begins with [[spoiler:the NATO [=NPCs=] that Cpl. Kerry encounters sounding rather derogatory about the prowess of the indigenous military, the Altian Armed Forces, with multiple references to them as "''Greenbacks''" and Sgt. Adams being particularly negative even when they're within possible earshot.]] Problem is, [[spoiler:the AAF aren't going to wait for NATO to leave and are all too happy to ''push'' 'em out]]... and very early into the second mission [[spoiler:Adams trips a land mine]] -- quite possibly [[KarmicDeath planted by]] [[spoiler: the AAF]] -- forcing [[spoiler:Kerry to hike it to the rendezvous point solo after Adams' death]].** The ''Bootcamp'' mini-campaign reveals that [[spoiler:Adams had been hating on the AAF for about a year by Drawdown]].* TheVerse: The devs have recently started referring to the setting by the (somewhat more Czech-sounding) term "[=ARMA=]versum" as well as "the Armaverse". Given the continuity, ''[[OperationFlashpoint OFP]]'''s setting belongs under the umbrella term as well. An overview of the setting's timeline is available [[http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Armaverse_Timeline here]].** The devs confirmed that their helicopter sim ''Take On Helicopters'' takes place in the Armaverse as well, with one of the characters having been a combat pilot around the time of ''Operation Arrowhead'', while Vrana Corp and [[PrivateMilitaryContractors ION]] makes cameo appearances; notably, ''Take On Helicopters'' implies by [[spoiler:Brian Frost]]'s return that [[spoiler:his killing of Dixon, ambushing the UN investigators and participating in the cover up is the canonical ending of ''Private Military Company'']].* UniversalAmmunition: Averted. You can only use magazines for two different weapons if they are of the same design family and use the exact same ammo.* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Averted. EnemyExchangeProgram is in full force and you can borrow any enemy equipment if you're out of your own or running low on it. Just be careful if you're playing multiplayer, as making the same sound as enemy weapons can lead to [[TeamKiller friendly fire]] or at least wasting time sorting things out.** The exception to the aversion is in ''ARMA 3'' where BLUFOR and OPFOR characters can't use opposing faction uniforms... although civilians can.* UselessUsefulStealth: When ''Armed Assault'' came out, one of the much-touted new features was the ability to use tall grass for stealthy incursions into enemy territory. Sadly, this only started properly working once the game got properly patched - until then, players had severe problems with aiming at enemies while lying in the grass and the enemy soldiers had ImprobableAimingSkills thanks to an annoying bug. [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Guess how that ended]] for most players while they were trying to be sneaky?* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Civilians frequently appear in the missions, and hurting them usually does not affect the mission. Also, in any mission with the Simple First Aid module, you can repeatedly shoot your allies with no ill effects.--> '''Sykes:''' Cease fire goddamnit!* VillainOfAnotherStory: In ''Take On Helicopters'' it's implied that [[spoiler:the "''coverup''" ending of PMC was canonical, as Brian Frost has become head of operations for ION]], so [[spoiler:after a supply flight by Larkin Aviation on behalf of ION's parent corporation goes sour, the Larkin brothers pick up Frost and give him "''a shaky ride''" until he talks]].* ViolentGlaswegian: Tanny in ''Arma II: Private Military Company''. The protagonist explicitly refers to bars in Glasgow when speaking of Tanny.* VirtualTrainingSimulation: It's being added to Arma 3, as part of the Bootcamp Update, in order to help newbies learn about various parts of gameplay such as material penetration.* WarIsHell: More prominent in the original ''Operation Flashpoint'' series than the sequels. ''{{ARMA}} II'' put you in the role of a member of [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous an elite USMC Force Recon squad]], liberally adorned with fancy looking high-tech gear (although not to the extent of ''ModernWarfare 2''). ''[=OFP=]'' gives you a rifle, uniform and boots, a helmet and... not much else. [[TruthInTelevision War is still unforgiving though]], regardless whether you're a RedShirt or a member of the elite forces.* WeAreNotTheWehrmacht: German KSK teams are in the game, and there is a more complete Bundeswehr mod.* WhyAreYouLookingAtMeLikeThat: There is a rather hilarious ([[TruthInTelevision as well as realistic]]) mechanic in ''Arma 3'' where [[ArtificialBrilliance [=NPCs=]]]' eyes follow the player as he walks by them or stands close enough, but when he looks back at them directly (as in, pointing with his crosshair at them), they quickly look away again. Oftentimes doubles as an UncomfortableElevatorMoment, usually sans the elevator.* YanksWithTanks: In ''ARMA II'' it was the [[SemperFi USMC]], but in ''Operation Arrowhead'' the American component is made of US Army soldiers, while British, German and [[ShoutOut Czech]] allied units are present as well.** In ''ARMA 3'', despite supposedly being the whole of NATO, most of the infantry have US flags on them and the Greyhawk drone has the USAF roundel, although the "Survive" update (the first mini-campaign DLC) added in NATO [=NPCs=] with UK flag patches and differing camouflage uniforms.----